If that all were to add up to the equilalent of $200 million USD...I would be surprised. That is like comparing the sales of all the local church quilting clubs to the sales of large home furnishing manufacturers.

if you say so.

Lets not forget about all the F2P games and games with item shops etc. They also dont get counted.

The answer appears black and white, and thats the way publishers like it, its only when people actually dig a bit deeper do they see the difference.

Let's just say that it is a fact if add up all the sales of free2play items, local indie games sales, and digital sales of main stream PC games it is more than console gaming sales.

The problem is that you are talking about a lot of money being spread across nearly countless conpanies, organizations, and in some cases a single person. The money can not be directed into any sort of inovatation and most will just go out of business just to be replaced by some one else trying their luck. Which means at best PC gaming can maintain it's current level. I think PC gaming has been doing this for a long time and not really on the decline like the retail sales show.

However, console sales is more focused and all the money coming is being put toward development and that has caused console gaming to explode onto the market and will continue to increase. When the super nintendo was a big thing PC gaming retailed like 1.5 billion USD...I think that PC gaming is still about 1.5 billion(of 1994 money...so add more due to inflation, but the value is the same) if you add everything up, but consoles are quickly eating up the high end gaming. PC gaming might be limited to only indie games in the near future and I can't help but look forward to it in some ways. I think my favorite PC games are from indies or very small companies.Edited by Vagrant Storm - 4/28/11 at 9:36am

Let's just say that it is a fact if add up all the sales of free2play items, local indie games sales, and digital sales of main stream PC games it is more than console gaming sales.

The problem is that you are talking about a lot of money being spread across nearly countless conpanies, organizations, and in some cases a single person. The money can not be directed into any sort of inovatation and most will just go out of business just to be replaced by some one else trying their luck. Which means at best PC gaming can maintain it's current level. I think PC gaming has been doing this for a long time and not really on the decline like the retail sales show.

However, console sales is more focused and all the money coming is being put toward development and that has caused console gaming to explode onto the market and will continue to increase. When the super nintendo was a big thing PC gaming retailed like 1.5 billion USD...I think that PC gaming is still about 1.5 billion(of 1994 money...so add more due to inflation, but the value is the same) if you add everything up, but consoles are quickly eating up the high end gaming. PC gaming might be limited to only indie games in the near future and I can't help but look forward to it in some ways. I think my favorite PC games are from indies or very small companies.

Consoles arent eating up anything from PC gaming. Console gaming is currently riding high, but will drop just like it did before.

PC gaming has always been at the front of technology and innovation. The worse major publishers do in PC gaming, the sooner they will leave, which will open up the PC market to more developers who wont have to try and compete with multi million dollar ad campaigns.

EA would not be letting DICE focus on the PC version is the market isnt there. CD projekt would not be making the witcher 2 as a pc only release if the market wasnt there. Tripwire interactive would not be making Red orchestra 2 if they market wasnt there.

PC gamers are more careful about what they purchase and play games for much longer than your console gamer does. Console gamers follow the next craze, they are the equivalent to pop music scene.

I look at my friends kids and they are always getting a new game, and are done with it within 3 months and are looking for the next big thing. The typical PC gamer doesnt do that.

Battlefield 3 and the witcher 2 will both show just how big the PC market really is.

The PC hardware and software market is not going no where but up. All you have to do is look at the retail market. Just in my area there have been a microcenter,tigerdirect/comp USA built just recently. Not to mention the frys is expanding.

What do all these places have in comon...A dedicated PC gaming area that no console area has.

PC gaming is for the person who is a true gamer , end of story. I am a huge audiophile and spent over $30,000 for my speakers and some people think im nuts ... til they hear them. Same thing with pc gaming. Its expensive if you want to get incredible performance that will last for a few years before upgrading and completely destroy consoles , and it requires some know how and understanding computers. Remember most people , even younger people can barley use a computer , let alone build one and install the os and update the drivers and dont even mention OC components.

PC gaming is for the person who is a true gamer , end of story. I am a huge audiophile and spent over $30,000 for my speakers and some people think im nuts ... til they hear them. Same thing with pc gaming. Its expensive if you want to get incredible performance that will last for a few years before upgrading and completely destroy consoles , and it requires some know how and understanding computers. Remember most people , even younger people can barley use a computer , let alone build one and install the os and update the drivers and dont even mention OC components.

I remember 2007 I got a prebuilt rig, some hp thing. Then buddy of mine took me to some computer workshop/gaming place played crysis and a few rts games. Since then Ive been mostly a pc gamer with some ps3 games over the years. Not gonna lie pretty nervous when I built my rig but lol came on here and with the help of some users and google pretty confident now with pcs

I am a PC gamer, but I have no illusions that I am a better gamer than any one with a console.

You know why console gamers trade their games in? Because they can! PC gamers just let the game gather dust once it gets old because we really have no choice unless we want to mess around ebaying it. Now most of my games are digital downloads and then I am really stuck with them. Sure I might load a game up for a weekend a year or two after I've played it out, but only if I am really bored. If I could easily sell my games I probably would.

And as for performance...

you really have to be rather picky to notice a difference between current consoles and high end gaming hardware. The next gen of gonsoles are only a year and a half away...maybe sooner. If graphics can be done as well as they are on the aged consoles we have now imagine what they will do on the next gen. A new line of GPUs are typically only 10-20% better than the previous gen. What will happen if consoles jump in performance by 400% or more with a new gen?

There might also come a point where the consoles' OS (which is more akin to firmware than a true OS) might make it have better performance than PC since it doesn't have to tunnel through any OS functions that are not releated to playing the game.

Saying PC gamers are "true gamers" is like saying keyboard and mouse is better than controllers. It all comes down to personal preference. You may have spent 30 grand on speakers that are amazing, but any one with a $300 pair of head phones are going to say they sound like crap. Personal preference.Edited by Vagrant Storm - 4/28/11 at 8:11pm